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Saturday, October 27, 2007

30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

OCTOBER 28, 200730TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - C

SIRACH 35:12-14, 16-18The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though notunduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow whenshe pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly isheard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowlypierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, norwill it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly andaffirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.

2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8, 16-18Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the timeof my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished therace; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousnessawaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on thatday, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for hisappearance. At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, buteveryone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lordstood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamationmight be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I wasrescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evilthreat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be gloryforever and ever. Amen.

LUKE 18:9-14Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their ownrighteousness and despised everyone else. "Two people went up to thetemple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a taxcollector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer tohimself, `O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest ofhumanity- greedy, dishonest, adulterous-or even like this taxcollector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.'But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raisehis eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, `O God, be mercifulto me a sinner.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not theformer; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one whohumbles himself will be exalted."

REFLECTIONOne of the often repeated themes of sacred scripture is the specialcare God has for the poor, the underprivileged, and the outcasts ofsociety. We find that theme in today's readings. The Old Testamentprophet, Sirach, says "the Lord God hears the cry of the oppressed andhe is not deaf to the wail of the orphan; the prayer of the lowlypierces the clouds."

Usually the responsorial psalm is a reflection and a repetition of thetheme of the first reading. And sure enough, in today's responsorialpsalm, after each verse comes the refrain: "the Lord hears the cry ofthe poor."

St. Luke is especially known for his sympathy for the plight of theoutcasts. His gospel is sometimes called the gospel of the greatpardons, for he tells the stories of the woman taken in adultery, theforgiveness of the paralytic; and the good thief on the cross. Todayhe tells the memorable story of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

If ever there was an outcast of society in the time of Jesus, it wasthe local tax collector. He had plenty of power and plenty of money,most of it stolen from the taxes he collected. But he had no friends.As Mother Theresa pointed out, the poorest of the poor are those whoare unloved. And the tax collector was the greatest of theunloved.

But in this parable, the tax collector has repented of all the crimesthat he committed. He kneels in the very back of the temple, unworthyto approach the altar and confesses his sinfulness to the lord. Butthe Pharisee, standing proudly in the front of the temple, trumpetshis achievements. Nobody except him could do anything right. He says:"I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, grasping, crooked,like this miserable tax collector. The man who went home from thetemple justified, was the tax collector, the one who recognized hissinfulness and asked for God's mercy.

Jesus is critical of the Pharisee not because of his virtues butbecause he "exalts himself" while Jesus praises the tax collectorbecause he has humbled himself before God, admitting he is a sinnerand asks for mercy.

As we study the second reading we may think that Paul, like thePharisee, is also very conscious of how own accomplishments. He sayshe has competed; he has finished the race and has the audacity to say:"Now the crown of righteousness awaits me." In essence, Paul soundsmore like the Pharisee than the tax collector. However, there is adifference.

Paul is "teaching", while the Pharisee is boasting. Paul hasconfidence that he has lived his life as Jesus asks that he live it.If one of us were teaching someone how to cook or play golf, weprobably would say, "Watch me. I will show you how it is done." Paulseems to be saying that living, competing, finishing the race andkeeping the faith are practices necessary in our journey through life.But then he adds that he and all who long for the appearance of Jesuswill be rewarded for their conduct.

Paul, himself, has "walked the walk." On the other hand, the Phariseeseemed to congratulate himself on what he alone accomplished whilePaul indicates his motivation was his longing for the appearance ofGod. There is a big difference in the two attitudes. However, we canalso become proud of our accomplishments.

We may judge our worthiness by the material aspects of our lives.There is nothing wrong with earning a lot of money, with gaining fameand in becoming a powerful force in one's community. However, Jesuscalls us to make a decision. Are our actions motivated by ambition, bya desire to be recognized for our efforts or do we take ouractions so that we may, like Paul, derive our motivation, as Paul did,from God's promise that he will bring us safely to his heavenlykingdom?

Once again Jesus asks us to make this decision: is our life dedicatedto God or to our own personal accomplishments. We truly must make thisdistinction. When we read the parables, we usually identifywith one of the characters depicted in the story.

If we were asked with whom in this story we most easily identify, wewould probably say the tax collector. That means that we like what hedid. But it also means that we think that we are more like him than weare like the Pharisee. And that is something we need to question.

If most of us were like the tax collector, there would be no point inJesus telling this story. He is suggesting, ever so subtly, thatperhaps we are very much like the Pharisee. Jesus asks us to reflecton the pharisaic acts of our own lives, the times we judged that wewere better than others, the times we did not give to the poor or themissions or local needy persons because we felt that we had alreadydone our fair share.

When we do good works, we expect that they be credited to us.Sometimes, in an outburst of piety, we pray for the conversion ofsinners, which, of course, excludes ourselves. Why do we act this way?Because we want to be always considered better than others even if weachieve this by putting others down. Unfortunately, in doingso, we reflect the attitude of the Pharisee. Jesus is teaching us tofollow the example of the tax collector in life as well as in ourprayer. He wants us to acknowledge that everything we are and have,has come from God. This is what the tax collector was able to capturein his prayer and the Pharisee did not. Thus, even if the taxcollector only asked for mercy, he ended up justified before God.

Though we are often like the Pharisee in our speech, good works andeven in our prayer, it is not too late to change. With the taxcollector as our model, we can begin by making his prayer our veryown: "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Then we will not onlyreceive God's mercy. We will also end up justified before him.

PRAYER REQUESTSWe pray ...... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for theunborn.... for the strength, healing and speedy recovery of:- Eligia G. Fernando- Lydia and Marina- Richard P. Mendoza- Conchita Tan- Tessie Paras- Boy Revatoris... for the personal intentions of Fred and Nel de Leon... for San Juan de Dios Hospital... Birthday: Jerry Solis... for the eternal repose of the souls of- Jaime Lomuntad- Rey KengEternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.- Birthday: Chit Marin- Birthday: Jeffrey Wayne D.- Wedding Anniversary: Naomi & Samuel Co Chan- In Memoriam (+): Numeriano G. Valencia... for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked ourprayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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